Giveaway: My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Software (CLOSED)

I am officially in 10K training mode!  My brothers and sister-in-law are joining me in running the Bolder Boulder 10K in Colorado over Memorial Day.  I found this great training schedule online, but I have a hard time remembering what week is when in real life.  To combat my short-term memory loss, also known as "Mommy Brain", I created this calendar page to keep me on track.  So far, so good.

So how did I make it?  I am usually a Photoshop girl, but I was recently contacted by My Memories about reviewing their digital scrapbooking software.  Now, I am not much of a real-life scrapbooker, but I do love doing graphic design, so I agreed to give the software a spin and see what I could do with it. 

 What I was impressed with about this software:

• Quick and easy to use
• I can use all the fun fonts I already have installed on my computer
• There are lots of free kits for download and a wide variety of other kits
• I can make my project as customized as I want, or just use a template and spend hardly any time on it at all
• There are many different book sizes
• I can print at home or send it somewhere else
• I am able use any other digital scrapbooking images you already have or free downloads from other sites
• Everything is organized and saved into albums instead of single files

As with any new software, it can take a little bit of getting used to how different aspects of the program operate.  Finding downloaded and installed files was a challenge for me at first.  For example, quick pages show up as embellishments, instead of background paper like I thought.  Here's a quick tip to help you find downloaded files:  When the downloads are installing, look at the address that it saves them to and it will tell you where to find it.

I honestly had so much fun playing with My Memories!  It was great to be able to print my training schedule right out on my printer and have it ready to go.  I think that I might actually start doing digital scrapbooking after playing with this.

Do you want to win your very own free copy of My Memories Suite?  One lucky Audzipan Anthology reader will be randomly selected from the comments.  Giveaway ends on May 6th, 2012 at 12pm MST. 


Here's how to enter (make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry and an email address or some way to contact you in one of your comments):

1. What's your favorite scrapbooking kit?  Visit My Memories and leave a comment here telling me which digital scrapbooking kit you like best. (required entry)
2. Be or become a follower of the Audzipan Anthology and leave a comment. (optional) 
3. Follow the My Memories Blog and leave a comment. (optional)
4. Follow My Memories on Facebook and leave a comment. (optional)
5. Follow My Memories on Twitter and leave a comment. (optional)

There you have it, five different ways to enter! 

This giveaway is now closed.  The winner has been announced here.

If you can't possibly wait for the giveaway to be over, I've got a great deal for ya.  Enter this code "STMMMS65222" at checkout to get $10 off your own copy of the My Memories Suite and a $10 coupon to the My Memories Store to get you started off right with some great kits.  Awesome!

Disclaimer:  I was provided with a free copy of this software for review, but all opinions expressed in this post are solely mine.  

"A Day in the Field" Fabric

I've been back at designing fabric again.  The theme for this design was to be inspired by pen and ink/watercolor drawings.  I did a larger scale than I normally do, and I really like it.  I learned some new things about Illustrator, which is always a plus.  I don't know if these flowers exist, since I made them up as I went.  I'm sure there is something that looks close to them out there somewhere?

Another thing I tried differently was the random pattern (which I have done before) with some white space in there to keep it from getting too busy.  Wouldn't this make a great over-sized tote or purse?

Houndstooth Sophia Carry-All

Do you recognize that fabric?  It's my brown and black houndstooth!  My mom used it in part to make this bag, the Amy Butler Sophia Carry-All. 

Of course, the bag turned out great, since my mom is awesome at this kind of stuff.  It's so fun to see my fabric turning into actual things.  Making something out of fabric I have designed is officially on my to-do list, again, but this time I'd like to design the fabric with a specific project in mind.  Ideas?

Important Dates Artwork

As part of my master bedroom decor, I whipped up this easy poster print.  The idea comes from A Steed's Life, but as usual I have tweaked it to my liking.  All I did was type up our family's favorite dates in Photoshop, get a 16"x20" poster printed at Walmart, and pop it in a barnwood frame.

Done!  I love using poster prints because you can get a pretty huge print for pretty cheap.  This size was only about $12.  The font used for this is a free font named Modern No. 20.  I love the personal touch this gives our room.

Easter Finery

The Easter skirt was a reality this year!  Great pictures of my girls in their dresses, not so much.  Also, quick disclaimer: I am not a model.  But I did have fun making the skirt!  I bought the pattern from Make It and Love It, called the Lily Skirt.  It was well-written and easy to follow, and I love that the waistband is super stretchy.  The skirt did end up with a little bit more pouf than I expected, so if I make another one I won't use as much fabric.

This is seriously the best picture we could get of the kids, but there were a few things going against us.  They had to sit because of the cast, we didn't have time for photos before church, and we didn't have a great location.  Maybe next year.  Looking back, I also wish I would have had my picture taken with the girls.  Instead, here's a full-length shot of me trying to look serious.

I'll have to work on that.

 Linked up: Sugar Bee Crafts

DIY Looking Glass Spray Paint Mirror

Our master bedroom decor takes one more step toward being complete.  A couple of months ago, I decided that I wanted to get a big round mirror or something new for above our new farmhouse headboard, besides the faux weathered metal letters.  I was ready for something besides the wrought iron fence piece, so I started to look into circular mirrors.  Well, long story short, they are expensive, and we were apprehensive about putting real glass above our sleeping heads.  We had the round wooden frame, from a broken Pottery Barn clock that I, unsuccessfully, tried to repair.  The mirror is actually clear acrylic plastic, bought in a sheet from the Home Depot, and spray painted with Krylon's Looking Glass spray paint.

Here's the process:
-Cut the plastic into a circle on a scroll saw.  I don't recommend cutting this by hand with a hacksaw, because the plastic is quite brittle and will snap easily.  Learn from my experience on that one.  We had to borrow the saw from a friend.
-Spray paint one side of the plastic with the Looking Glass paint, making sure to get complete coverage.  This is actually the back side of the mirror.
-Caulk the plastic into the frame so that the painted side will face the wall when hung.  Let it dry, and hang it on the wall.  That's it.

I love the smoky look the mirror has.  It feels like you are looking into a dream world.  Much more interesting than a plain old mirror!  I wasn't sure if the spray paint would work on plastic, since it only talks about painting glass, but I think as long as what you are painting is clear, it works just fine.

Linked up: Sugar Bee Crafts

Easter Dresses 2012

I decided to try something new for Easter dresses this year.  Last year, I didn't even consider making my daughters' dresses.  I guess a lot has changed in the last year, and thanks to discovering a lot of new sewing blogs, I felt like this might be something I could handle.

I picked up a pattern at Walmart, New Look 6448, and decided on variation A.  It said "Easy" right on front, so I thought it would be on my level, but that was a bit of an overstatement.  I ended up needing a lot of explanation of pattern terms and techniques from my sewing instructor. (hi, Mom!)  I'm sure I would have messed something up without her.  Now that I have done these, though, I do feel like I might be able to do more by myself in the future.

For the fabric flower embellishment, I sewed together three rolled fabric flowers of different sizes and a little bit of lace trim.  They turned out exactly how I wanted, so that was great.

The sashes just tie in a simple bow in the back. 

I hope I can get a good photo of my girls in their dresses.  My oldest went and got her leg broken on the trampoline over the weekend, so that hot pink cast has become an unexpected accessory and will make an adventure for Easter egg hunting.

Now the real question: Do I use the leftover fabric to make some sort of banded matching skirt for me. . ?  I have a simple pattern I have been meaning to try, so maybe I'll get brave and energetic and give it a try.

Linked up: Sugar Bee Crafts